Offense gets back on track for Clemson

Published: Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 12:04 a.m.

CLEMSON — There was an abundant renewal of joy in Clemson's offensive approach against Wake Forest in Saturday's 56-7 domination.

Scoring almost at will, early and often, while spreading the wealth on a variance of big plays is a pretty good recipe to getting the bounce back in one's step and playing football like kids in a backyard.

The Tigers vaunted attack looked timid and out of sorts when last seen sputtering to a win at North Carolina State which, almost humorously, began to bring forth early naysayers as to what was wrong with Tajh Boyd and his crew.

Offensive coordinator Chad Morris mentioned it took 59 plays to finally breakthrough into any semblance of desired rhythm against the Wolfpack. Against the Demon Deacons it took exactly three plays for the non-stop fun to begin.

Sammy Watkins caught a 64-yard touchdown from Boyd on that third play, unleashing an opening onslaught resulting in 21 points and 225 yards on just 16 plays in less than eight minutes.

“They turned it loose and had some fun and that was key,” Morris said, adding that his biggest advice all week was less than technical. “Just take what they give us and go have some fun. That was the biggest thing I could tell them, just quit pressing and have fun. (Boyd) didn't look like he was having fun last week and he wasn't. He missed some deep ball shots and if he'd have hit them it would've been a different game.

“I'd been saying all week if he can hit one you'd better look out because we can kick the door in and that's all (Boyd) kept saying on the sideline, I got this now. And as a play-caller you get in your rhythm and everything just kind of flows. I saw it in his pregame to where he was just loose and I think we all saw the Tajh Boyd that we're all used to seeing.”

In the first half Boyd completed 13 of 18 for 286 yards and three touchdowns and ran 13 times for 38 yards and another touchdown. His day concluded up 42-7 in the third quarter in finishing 17 of 24 for 311 yards and 69 rushing yards and the four touchdowns.

Boyd surpassed Charlie Whitehurst to become Clemson's career total yardage leader with 9,971 (fourth all-time in the ACC) and his 102 total touchdowns trails only Philip Rivers' 112 in conference history. Boyd also upped his touchdown pass total to 82, trailing only Rivers' 95.

Boyd said the record he was most proud of, with turnovers a blight on his early resume, was reaching a Clemson-best 166 passes without an interception.

“That's by far my favorite one. The biggest thing is going out there on offense and executing and not turning the ball over. Winning the turnover margin every game and we've done that this season.”

He then admitted he pretty much knew the numbers he needed to pass Rivers, laughing before adding, “But who's counting? We were joking about that earlier. If it's not that big of a deal, then how do you know the numbers?

“We are not where we need to be right now, we're not really close, but that's the best part about it, the beauty of it, because you do peak at some point. It can be too early or too late so hopefully we're somewhere in that middle range.”

Watkins, who caught six passes for 113 yards, shrugged off any outside perception of the previous underwhelming offensive performance. He did say that teammates tried to give their quarterback some additional space prior to Saturday's kickoff.

“The biggest thing was nobody bothered him, everybody left him alone so he didn't have so many people in his ear,” Watkins said. “He's been through every situation as a player and the biggest thing is don't over-coach him and let him do his thing.”

<p>CLEMSON — There was an abundant renewal of joy in Clemson's offensive approach against Wake Forest in Saturday's 56-7 domination.</p><p>Scoring almost at will, early and often, while spreading the wealth on a variance of big plays is a pretty good recipe to getting the bounce back in one's step and playing football like kids in a backyard.</p><p>The Tigers vaunted attack looked timid and out of sorts when last seen sputtering to a win at North Carolina State which, almost humorously, began to bring forth early naysayers as to what was wrong with Tajh Boyd and his crew.</p><p>Offensive coordinator Chad Morris mentioned it took 59 plays to finally breakthrough into any semblance of desired rhythm against the Wolfpack. Against the Demon Deacons it took exactly three plays for the non-stop fun to begin.</p><p>Sammy Watkins caught a 64-yard touchdown from Boyd on that third play, unleashing an opening onslaught resulting in 21 points and 225 yards on just 16 plays in less than eight minutes.</p><p>“They turned it loose and had some fun and that was key,” Morris said, adding that his biggest advice all week was less than technical. “Just take what they give us and go have some fun. That was the biggest thing I could tell them, just quit pressing and have fun. (Boyd) didn't look like he was having fun last week and he wasn't. He missed some deep ball shots and if he'd have hit them it would've been a different game. </p><p>“I'd been saying all week if he can hit one you'd better look out because we can kick the door in and that's all (Boyd) kept saying on the sideline, I got this now. And as a play-caller you get in your rhythm and everything just kind of flows. I saw it in his pregame to where he was just loose and I think we all saw the Tajh Boyd that we're all used to seeing.”</p><p>In the first half Boyd completed 13 of 18 for 286 yards and three touchdowns and ran 13 times for 38 yards and another touchdown. His day concluded up 42-7 in the third quarter in finishing 17 of 24 for 311 yards and 69 rushing yards and the four touchdowns.</p><p>Boyd surpassed Charlie Whitehurst to become Clemson's career total yardage leader with 9,971 (fourth all-time in the ACC) and his 102 total touchdowns trails only Philip Rivers' 112 in conference history. Boyd also upped his touchdown pass total to 82, trailing only Rivers' 95.</p><p>Boyd said the record he was most proud of, with turnovers a blight on his early resume, was reaching a Clemson-best 166 passes without an interception.</p><p>“That's by far my favorite one. The biggest thing is going out there on offense and executing and not turning the ball over. Winning the turnover margin every game and we've done that this season.”</p><p>He then admitted he pretty much knew the numbers he needed to pass Rivers, laughing before adding, “But who's counting? We were joking about that earlier. If it's not that big of a deal, then how do you know the numbers?</p><p>“We are not where we need to be right now, we're not really close, but that's the best part about it, the beauty of it, because you do peak at some point. It can be too early or too late so hopefully we're somewhere in that middle range.”</p><p>Watkins, who caught six passes for 113 yards, shrugged off any outside perception of the previous underwhelming offensive performance. He did say that teammates tried to give their quarterback some additional space prior to Saturday's kickoff.</p><p>“The biggest thing was nobody bothered him, everybody left him alone so he didn't have so many people in his ear,” Watkins said. “He's been through every situation as a player and the biggest thing is don't over-coach him and let him do his thing.”</p>